Hot tubs typically provide a means for bathers to relax in a controlled environment of warmth and gentle water massage provided by numerous fluid flow ports or nozzles. Hot tubs, or spas, provide relaxation and if desired, therapy, for example, hydrotherapy, for treatment of various ailments. As is known, the bather typically reclines in the hot tub and pulsating jets of water impact various locations on the bather's body. Typically, relaxation is enhanced in such tubs or spas by providing head rests so that the bather can fully recline during relaxation or treatment. Furthermore, relaxation and treatment can be further enhanced by the use of other amenities which provide an environment more conducive to relaxation or treatment. For example, it is known to provide spas or tubs with video monitors, audio speakers, and mood-enhancing lighting to enhance relaxation and treatment.
However, when such electronic devices are used, it is undesirable to locate such electronic devices in the vicinity of the water in the tub or spa for the obvious potential for damage to the electronic devices from exposure to the water (and the corrosive chemicals the water can contain) or to the humid environment typically present about a tub. Typically, when electronic devices are introduced to spas or tubs the installation of these devices is undertaken with great care to minimize the exposure of the electric wiring and components to direct contact with water or to exposure to the humid air. For example, in some prior art applications, the audio components are mounted in an elevated position, as far above the surface of the water as possible, while still providing sound audible to the bather. In addition, the elevated position of such speakers places the speaker at the approximate elevation of the ear of the bather. Such a typical prior art spa having speakers mounted in housing extensions located above the main spa housing is shown in an undated brochure distributed by Catalina Spas of Perris, Calif. Similar undesirable housing extensions for mounting speakers are also shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,882 and in published Japanese patent 5,103,731 A. However, as will made clear from the description of the present invention below, such elevated installation of speakers on housing extensions or housing projections negatively impact the manufacturing process and the shipping requirements of the spa.
Though elevated above the water level, audio speakers, for example, are still susceptible to water damage, for example, from children splashing or humidity. Typically, to minimize the potential for damaging speakers mounted in a hot tub, more moisture-tolerant speakers are used, for example, “marine”-type speakers. However, such water-tolerant speakers are more costly than conventional speakers.
The use of elevated speakers has several undesirable impacts upon the manufacturing process. First, by mounting speakers in an elevated position, for example, above the nominal height of the spa housing, special accommodation must be made to provide an elevated “extension” to the housing to mount the speaker. These extensions for speaker mounting are, of course, located at an elevation that is typically beyond the height of the spa housing required to accommodate the water level and the bather. Thus, these extensions for speaker mounting require that the spa housing be modified from that which is typically required in conventional spas. For example, conventional spa housings are typically, one-piece, plastic constructions, molded, for example, from a thermoplastic. In the prior art, in order to provide the extensions for speaker mounting, either the molds must be modified to include the speaker mounting extensions or the pre-molded housings must be modified to provide the required speaker mounting extensions. Either modification adds to the fabrication cost of the spa and is thus undesirable. Thus, a need exists in the art for providing audio components to spas without requiring undesirable housing modifications.
In addition, the prior art practice of mounting audio speakers on housing extensions is not amenable to incorporating speakers into existing spa housings. For example, existing spa housings without speakers typically do not have mounting structures and cannot accommodate such speakers, that is, not without a costly modification to the existing housing. Thus, a need also exists in the art for providing audio components to a spa which can be installed in existing spas, that is, can be retro-fit, with little or no modification to the existing spa housing.
Furthermore, when electronics or other components are incorporated into a spa housing at an elevated position, the resulting increased height of the tub impacts the shipping requirements of the spa. Hot tubs or spas are typically shipped stacked one on top of the other. Thus, any increase in height of the spa increases the volume that the spa occupies during shipping, that is, an increase in housing height limits the number of spas that can be shipped in a given cargo space. Thus, a need also exists in the art to provide audio components to spa housings that do not negatively affect the shipping requirements of the spas. These and other limitations of the prior art are addressed by the present invention.
As noted above, the bathing or treatment experience is also typically enhanced by means of lighting. For example, it is known in the art to include decorative lighting, for example, about the perimeter of the spa. Again, due to the potential for the water and humidity to damage electric wiring, lightning is typically provided by means that are water and humidity tolerant, for example, by means of fiber-optic cables. These fiber-optic cables are typically illuminated by a remote LED source. Typically, the individual fiber optic cables are routed to individual light emitters distributed about the spa. However, the routing of individual cables to distributed emitters not only is tedious to install, but the numerous fiber-optic cables are also susceptible to damage and failure during installation and maintenance. This type of fiber-optic lighting is also illustrated in the Catalina Spas brochure referred to above. Thus, a need also exists in the art for providing a means for introducing environment-enhancing lighting to a spa that overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art lighting. This need is also addressed by the present invention.